More on Charlie Kirk's Killer

Yesterday, Tyler James Robinson was charged with six felonies and a misdemeanor in connection to the murder of Charlie Kirk. The charging document provided by the Utah County Attorney's Office is the most authoritative account of events available so far. As such, I am going to review new information provided and revisit my earlier post about the killer.

The politicized nature of this case creates a number of challenges to discussing it. Four hours after announcing Kirk's death, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump blamed the "radical left" and promised to go after the "organizations that fund and support" political violence. However, Trump only listed incidences of political violence that targeted those on the right, completely ignoring attacks on the left. Moreover, at the time of Trump's statement, no suspect had been identified, and no information about the shooter's motives was available. The clear indication of Trump's remarks was that he would use Kirk's murder as an opportunity to wage a broad attack on the political left. In an administration full of hacks, the message was loudly received.

Trump's immediate politicalization of the assassination should cause some skepticism about his administration's statements regarding events. Moreover, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been hollowed out as Trump's appointees to FBI leadership have waged a partisan war against FBI professionals. Currently led by the clownish Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino, the irony is that two podcasters are leading the investigation into the murder of another podcaster. This investigation has more in common with "Only Murders in the Building" than it does a traditional investigation. It is likely that the "facts" being reported about this case have been strongly influenced by right-wing partisans leading the investigation.

When Robinson was first identified as Kirk's killer, I, like many others, engaged in speculation about Robinson's identity and political leaning. One thing I got wrong was among the things that I thought were almost certain. I described Robinson as "apparently straight." That now appears to not be the case. Robinson has been described in the charging document and by friends as being involved in a romantic relationship with his roommate, someone identified at birth as male but who is transitioning to female. This has led to some debate about Robinson's sexual orientation. One thing that I should emphasize is that gender and sexual orientation are separate characteristics and one need not have any connection to the other. A friend of Robinson's who has known him since middle school told journalist Ken Klippenstein that Robinson is bisexual. Regardless of the specifics, Robinson does not appear to be "straight" as I previously wrote.

I also appear to have been wrong about a conversation involving Robinson and a family member in which Kirk was described as "full of hate and spreading hate." Relying on the verbatim remarks of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, I attributed this remark to the family member. The charging document says that Robinson made this statement. The fact that Robinson viewed Kirk as spreading hate appears to be the motive for the killing. In an exchange of text messages quoted in the charging document, Robinson was asked why he killed Kirk and replied, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out."

When I wrote about the inscriptions that Robinson left on the bullet casings, I noted that:

Most of the recent mass shooters have left manifestos laden with memes and Internet subculture references. Those who study such things repeatedly warn that nothing involving such writing should be taken at face value. Those embroiled in cultures of trolling will likely troll when they produce such documents.

This was a prescient warning to which I should have paid more attention myself. In the text exchange included in the charging document, Robinson wrote, "The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme, if I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on fox new I might have a stroke…" This suggests that the inscriptions were nothing but a joke and had no additional meaning. I wrote quite a bit about possible connections between Robinson and Nick Fuentes' Groyper movement. I should note that not only did I think such a connection was possible, but Fuentes and many of his followers seemed to as well. However, all of us appear to have been wrong.

Many instantly started looking for a transgender angle in Kirk's murder due to his anti-transgender positions. The fact that Robinson is romantically involved with someone who is in the process of transitioning has almost been an answer to their prayers. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, for one, has jumped on this topic with the enthusiasm that he normally reserves for a Cancún vacation during a snowstorm. He argued that the fact that Kirk had responded to a question about mass shootings conducted by transgender people just before he was shot was evidence of a motive related to trans people. In fact, the charging document states that Robinson was shown moving to the location from which he fired the shot "at approximately 12:15 p.m." It also says that Kirk took the stage at noon and was shot "approximately fifteen minutes into the event". This timing suggests that Robinson got into his firing position and immediately fired. There is no indication that he timed his shot with a particular question. That seems to be purely coincidental. In addition, Cruz argued that one of the inscriptions demonstrated a transgender motive. One of the memes is used to tease those who unwittingly find themselves with a trans person. If anything, that is anti-trans rather than pro-trans as Cruz would have it. Ironically, that is exactly the inscription that Robinson explicitly mentioned in his text and called "mostly a big meme".

Still, it is likely that Robinson's dislike of Kirk probably had something to do with Robinson's involvement with someone that is transitioning. However, it is notable that that individual was unaware of the shooting beforehand, was aghast when it happened, and is cooperating with the police. The only trans person involved in this event is blameless. In addition, there is a rush to connect support for gay and transgender people to left-wing politics. This is not always the case. Two high-level Trump officials, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Special Presidential Envoy Richard Grenell, are openly gay. The most famous trans person in America is MAGA Republican Caitlyn Jenner. While it does not appear to be widely known, Jessica Watkins, the founder and former leader of the Oath Keepers who was jailed for her involvement in the January 6 insurrection and later pardoned by Trump, is transgender.

Robinson's friend who spoke with Klippenstein argued that Robinson was not really political at all and not very ideologically consistent. He said, “Obviously, he's okay with gay and trans people having a right to exist, but also believes in the Second Amendment". Speaking about their Discord group, the friend told Klippenstein that "I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part...That's the big thing, he just never really talked politics which is why it's so frustrating."

There is very little evidence in the charging document about Robinson's political leanings. Robinson's mother is said to have told investigators that Robinson had moved more to the left in recent years, but that appears to be in reference to his views about gay and transgender people. There is no information about left-leaning organizations or individuals with whom Robinson has been in contact. There is no indication that any organization supported his plan to kill Kirk and helped in any manner. The picture that emerges is of someone who was personally offended by Kirk's statements, had the opportunity and the means to kill him, and then followed through.

There are a number of caveats that I need to add to this. First, the investigation is ongoing and it is almost certain that not all current evidence available to authorities was included in the charging document. Therefore, there is a lot we still don't know. Moreover, even what was included in the charging document is heavily edited. The text message exchange is presented with very little context and, at first, looks like a single conversation. Upon closer inspection, it is clear that the first texts were shortly after the shooting and later texts were the next day. The exchange is full of ellipses, indicating that some text was left out. Some are suggesting that the text messages were fake. Among the doubters is Steve Bannon who said "it seems too much like a script, actually a bad script". I am not entertaining conspiracy theories or Bannonesque doubts at this time. I feel fairly comfortable in saying that the charging document is probably not the one that Patel or Trump would have wanted.

I can't find the quote right now, but there is an expression along the lines of "a determined person can find a way to kill anyone." Hollywood and action novels have influenced us to believe that assassinations necessarily are part of complex plots. In reality, a 20-year-old nursing home employee came very close to killing Trump. It seems to have taken very little effort for Robinson to arrange to kill Kirk. In a text message quoted in the charging document, Robinson says that he had been planning the assassination for just over a week. The reality is that we live in a violent country in which guns are easily accessible. Killing is often made to seem glamorous. Trump has spent the last several days gloating over the deaths of Venezuelans he accuses of drug smuggling. Their boats, defenseless and presenting no threat to anyone, were blown up, killing all aboard. When former Minnesota statehouse Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, U.S. Senator Mike Lee tweeted jokes about it. The officially mandated mourning for Kirk cannot hide the fact that many Americans view human life as being rather cheap.